Table of Contents
Section 1 What Is Phonics? 5
Phonics: A Definition 7
Phonics in the Intermediate Grades: What and Why 9
Ten Important Research Findings About Phonics 11
Stages of Reading Development: Where Phonics Fits In 19
Meeting Rigorous Standards 22
Section 2 Learning About Sounds & Letters 25
Why Should I Know About Linguistics? 26
The 44 Sounds of English 28
Consonants 31
Vowels 37
Section 3 How Phonics is Taught 41
Two Ways to Teach Phonics 42
How Readers Develop 44
Characteristics of Strong Phonics Instruction 47
What About Scope and Sequence? 51
Blending: Teaching Children How Words Work 56
Word Awareness Activities 58
Word Building and Word Sorts 58
Word Sort and Word Building Routines 62
High-Frequency Words 66
Section 4 Creating Lessons for Success 71
Phonics Lessons Do's 71
Phonics Lessons Don'ts 72
Sample Lessons and Word Lists 73
Consonant Digraphs 74
Consonant Clusters 81
Silent Letters 97
Long Vowels 101
Other Vowel Sounds 112
Teaching Phonograms 121
Phonograms Provide a Reading Boost 121
How to Teach With Phonograms 123
Phonogram Cautions 124
How to Use the Phonogram Lists 126
What About Rules? 191
Guidelines for Using Rules/Generalizations 192
Syllabication: The Challenge at the Intermediate Grades 196
Key Information for Teaching Syllabication 197
Syllabication Lessons 201
Helping Students Recognize Common Syllables 219
Syllabication Activities 225
How Can Teaching Syllables Help Students Decode Multisyllabic Words? 227
What About High-Utility Syllables? 228
Using the High-Frequency Syllable List 237
Word Study (Structural Analysis) 239
Word Study Teaching Guidelines 239
Compound Words 240
Prefixes 245
Suffixes 254
Homophones 269
Greek and Latin Roots 272
Other Useful Word Lists 282
25 Quick-and-Easy Phonics and Word Analysis Games 295
Section 5 Building Fluency 303
What Is Fluency? 304
Measuring Oral Reading Fluency 310
Ways to Develop Fluency 310
Section 6 Meeting the Needs of Struggling Readers 321
Struggling Readers-They Have a Variety of Problems 323
Ways to Help Your Strugglers Succeed 326
Four Principles of Effective Intervention 328
Standard English Learners 336
What About Commercial Intervention Programs? 344
A Final Note 346
Glossary of Phonic Terms 347
Bibliography 360
How to Access Downloadable Resources 367